GDC put itself in a no-win situation with its Bushnell award

When the Game Developers Conference decided to drop its Pioneer Award for Nolan Bushnell, who some call the father of video games and the former CEO of Atari, I had some mixed emotions. The same goes for many in the game industry who offered reactions to the decision. I think that the interesting thing about the reactions isn’t necessarily where you stand, but the thought process and conversations that lead you to your conclusion on whether it was right to take away the honor.

It is the game industry’s reckoning with its own history, just as we come to grips with the removal of statues of Confederates such as General Robert E. Lee and the status of explorer Christopher Columbus and his role in how white peoples dominated Native Americans.